My first rejection letter! Yes, the YA novel I sent out at the end of December did not succeed in its mad quest. I’m actually quite amused that I opened it, read the form rejection, and thought “Yay, this is the first rejection letter I have ever received!” It was indeed a mad shot in the dark, and now I will settle down and sensibly query agents.

Saw the doctor this morning; all is well regarding deeper sleep and pain levels, and my current prescription has been confirmed for the next six months. I am, in fact, at liberty to double my dose if I so require, and to call it into the office so they can put a note in my file. Hurrah for doctors who trust you to know your own pain levels! She also approved of the supplements I’d researched and begun taking on my own for various aspects of the complex, and told me that the recommended Vitamin D intake for North Americans has been revised from 400 IU to 1000 IU and to be sure I was getting enough, as it might impact the fatigue and pain as well. 1000 IU? That’s insanely high. As she put it, one would have to sunbathe fully nude for two solid hours every day of the year in full sun to absorb that amount. (As it happens I’m only a few IU short of the recommended dose thanks to my supplements but I thought I’d share, as you never know.)

At the doctor’s office the boy entertained the other patients waiting with his antics, particularly when he emptied a small cart and dubbed it a gondola train car. This was directly followed by him bringing a spiral-bound book to me and asking me to read it. “Okay,” I said perfectly evenly as he scrambled up onto the bench next to me, “this book is called… ‘Diabetes Explained’.” There were several muffled snorts of laughter, followed by more when he excitedly pointed out that the illustration showed insulin as a series of little gondola train cars carrying glucose to the bloodstream, shown as a track. So I sat there, seriously discussing glucose, insulin, stomachs, hypoglycaemia, and type 2 diabetes with the boy while the other patients pretended they weren’t listening. It was very amusing.

It’s a very mild day out there, which has done a lot for my mood. Especially since the boy was home sick with me yesterday, and I was polishing the copy-edits. It was nice not to have to fight the car heater or bitter winds for once while we were out. It was so nice that we made a day of it. After the doctor’s office we went to the bank, where he sat on the ledge of the automatic teller and asked what everything was, then held one of the statements and said, very importantly, that it was his List. Then we went to the second-hand book store, where I only found one of the books I was looking for, but three for him when we browsed the children’s books. And then, feeling very capable of handling an excited toddler in a restaurant on my own, I took him next door to the rotisserie where we had lunch out together, including dessert. I ended up eating most of the miniature brownie ice cream sundae that came with his meal, because he was perfectly content to scoop up the hot fudge sauce with his finger and lick it. And on top of that the waitress gave him an orange lollipop, the first one he’s ever had. They are decidedly “very good, Mama”.

My rejection letter isn’t the only thing that arrived in today’s mail; I missed a parcel delivery while we were out (of course). I believe it is a Buzz Lightyear baseball-style spring jacket for His Little Highness I won on eBay. I shall tuck it away to present as a gift or reward for a particularly good week.

The copy-edits have been returned to my editor. I now have four weeks to finish the hearthcraft book. I am simultaneously feeling confident and panicked. When I began, I was hoping that the body of the work would be finished by now, and March would be a month of fine-tuning and polishing. Things like this never work out the way one anticipates they will.